Hasty, harebrained and quite often hot-headed opinions on all things related to Pittsburgh sports, where the Allegheny and Monongahela meet to form the Ohio...

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Think that Shero should "stay the course" at the deadline ?? Read this first....

Those who think the Pens' loss yesterday in Long Island was just an aberration, a bump in the road, or whatever clique you want to throw at them, take a quick glance at the following stats and tell me if you think that Ray Shero should keep the team as is (as a lot of fans have speculate), or if they should make some moves.

Even though fans have been steadily clamoring for a right-handed D-man all year, they should be yelling from their rooftops now. Since the streak started on Jan. 13th, check these stats out;

Jan. 13th at Philly: Blew 3-1 2nd period lead in 5-3 winJan. 18th at Boston: Blew 2-0 2nd period and 4-3 3rd period leads in 5-4 shootout lossFeb. 1st vs. Montreal: Blew 4-2 3rd period lead in 5-4 shootout winFeb. 8th at Philly: Blew 4-2 3rd period lead in 5-4 shootout winFeb. 10th at Toronto: Blew 3-0 2nd period lead in 6-5 overtime winFeb. 14th vs. Chicago: Blew 3-1 2nd period lead in 5-4 shootout winFeb. 19th at Isles: Blew 3-1 2nd period and 5-4 3rd period leads in 6-5 loss

The defense's play has been so poor that I'm reading fans' pleading for the quick return of career minor leaguer Alain Nasreddine. Are you people serious ??

And those defensive gems don't exactly help out the goalie's stats, as witnessed by Fleury's dropping totals;

At least 3 goals given up in 10 out of the last 17 games since streak started.7 out of 15 games Fleury started in which his save percentage was under 90%.

So if Shero's goal is to make the playoffs, OK sure, keep the team as is.

And even that's not guaranteed, not at all.

But to make noise in the playoffs, a move for a righty-Dman is a must.